It's something you guys wanted according to our survey and we're happy to oblige! We're going to be tackling season 2 this time around starting with the episodes that brought us Discord: The Return of Harmony parts 1 and 2.
Back in the day it was amazing to hear we had obtained such an amazing actor like John de Lancie for the MLP cast and even more amazing as time went on what staying power Discord would have over the show.
Check on after the break for scenes that made these episodes a great start to a brand new season we weren't even sure if we were going to get! Sorry if it seems more like a followup but so many memes were born from this episode that it would I would feel remiss for not pointing them out.
Memes were in full swing with this particular episode and I swear most of my breakdown of this particular rewatch will be about them. Within the first couple minutes we had our first newly born meme: Sweetie Belle being a dictionary. While not as prevalent today it enjoyed a bit of popularity back in the day spawning from this little exchange:
Sweetie: That's not a word!
Scootaloo: What are you? A dictionary?
You just never know what little line, facial expression or action will serve as something for the fandom to latch onto.
Even back in season 2 Rarity was always prepared for any disaster. Whether it be fashionable survival gear or a variety of well placed fainting couches she is one prepared gal regardless of the circumstance.
We also clearly established Pinkie's love for chocolate milk, especially of the rain variety. I remember this pic alone led to a guffaws and parody pics in the days after the episode aired.
The introduction of the stained glass corridor. A lot of things introduced in these two episodes would be found in later episodes of the show, expanding the world and lore of Equestria greatly and starting a trend in pony art to create fandom stained glass concepts...
...Oh and horns are convenient keys apparently. Oh boy the jokes that spawned from this one.
And the memes continue as folks teamed this animation up to "Everyday I'm Shuffling". Told you this was a meme heavy episode!
And finally the man himself! Discord is still a big deal even today but back when he first popped up people lost their minds. He was just so unique, posed such a great threat as a villain and he had such a great VA in de Lancie. What better way could a premiere be for a season?
The rest of the episode was especially meme-tastic as we discovered some meme staples that persist in the fandom today, probably the most famous being LiarJack and her shifty eyed scrunchy face. The idea of Discorded ponies also was born here, working its way into fan works from art to fanfics.
As Seth mentioned in a previous rewatch, Rarity had yet to really find her place among the popular ponies of the gang, but I loved her from the start. The amazing VA work by Tabitha completely sealed the deal for me from the start and this episode was no exception especially when she found her 'diamond'.
My last big observation from the episode you can take as possible foreshadowing for Fluttershy becoming friends with Discord. Out of all the ponies she was the only one that couldn't be Discorded by Discord indirectly showing that she is able to keep calm around him and talk to him even when he is acting like typical Discord. Even though it was a silly scene it did act as a foundation for the relationship they would later develop.
Part 2
Classic Discord chaos! He sure does like floating buildings, doesn't he? The beginning of part 2 was an excellent show of how powerful and dangerous Discord was and as our heroes started to enter the lowest point of the two parter things really looked truly, truly screwed.
And the memes continue! Ever wonder where Tom came from? Well, it was this episode that Boulder's potential boyfriend was born and has continued as a theme in the fandom ever since.
Twilight getting dunked also helped solidify the term coined from the previous episode: Flutterb****. Quite a popular meme in the day and I believe personally helped kick off the idea of branching out Fluttershy's personality in fan works past the shy, sweet Fluttershy we knew at the time.
Congratulations Spike, you're the new Rainbow Dash! Lots of colorful Spikes after this episode.
We finally hit our lowest point in the episode and while most episodes of MLP can be somewhat predictable I think at the time no one knew how the heroes would resolve conflict before them. A scary prospect since our girls had conquered every challenge they faced up to this point.
It was also at this point we spotted Screwball, a character that would endure in the fandom for many seasons to come and played a prominent role in song Daddy Discord!
Near the end of the episode we received quite a surprise as the letters from season 1 became an important plot point, turning them from a moral delivery device in the first season to a device that helped Twilight remember herself and her friends. It was a clever use of the letters, revealing an arc we didn't really know about through season 1. So well done!
I don't know if I'm the only one, but remember a time when Twilight's magic seemed a bit more surprising? We were still learning about her and her abilities at the time so that plays a large part in it but she seems a bit toned down in recent seasons, with a lot of teleporting and horn lasers making up her basic magic nowadays.
Ah, back in the day when nuking your enemies with rainbows was the most effective means of subduing them. More importantly it was at this point where Discord was once again turned to stone that we wondered if we'd ever see him again which we were happily proven wrong sometime later. Also, probably one of the most hardcore ways the girls defeated an enemy. Besides blowing up Sombra, trapping someone in stone for apparently all eternity is pretty hardcore.
And how can we forget the Star Wars reference at the end? References have always been a part of MLP but they seemed farther in-between in earlier seasons. Now it seems like we have a new reference in almost every episodes. Cool little easter eggs, but they seemed to have a bigger impact back then. Now whether it was because it was amazing seeing references like this in a MLP show back then and the surprise has worn off or the more frequent references have diluted the surprise a bit I'm not sure.
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Well guys, I hope you enjoyed my little recap! I don't do these often but it was fun going back to watch an episode I haven't seen in years. Now relive the magic of The Return of Harmony down below.
Twitter: Calpain
